The farm bill that the Senate is currently considering contains a reauthorization of the Forest Legacy Program.  The program uses taxpayer money to pay landowners to not develop their land, acquire land with the specific purpose of not developing it, and purchase “conservation easements” that limit development rights on land with certain “conservation values.”

Even in a good economy, the program is a waste of taxpayer money. In our current period of economic stagnation, as millions of Americans are out of work, it is utterly indefensible and irresponsible to continue the program.  It saps $2 billion from the private sector that could be used to create badly-needed jobs and promote economic growth. Since its creation in 1991, the program has prevented the development of more than 2.2 million acres of land, some of it on a permanent basis.

This program is not an efficient use of the federal government’s limited resources and creates perverse incentives for landowners to block off access to the land that could be put to productive uses.  In one instance, the federal government essentially paid off a land developer to not build dozens of single-family homes, no doubt hurting the local economy, preventing likely municipal tax revenues, and killing a number of potential jobs.    

This is why I have introduced an amendment to the Farm Bill (S. 3240) that would put a stop this wasteful program. It is time to shorten the list of the many ways the federal government discourages economic growth, and, even in a small way, my amendment will do just that.